The present invention relates to portable, insulated, carrying devices useful for storing, conveying and serving food and beverages, specifically to a cooler assembly for the management of a cooler""s contents, and more specifically to a support tray for the isolation from liquid on a floor inside a cooler.
Simple, portable, hard-walled coolers formed of metal or plastic and designed solely to maintain food and beverages at low temperatures are well known in the art. For example, The Coleman Company of Wichita, Kansas, manufactures hard-sided, insulated containers, such as coolers and jugs, in a variety of shapes and sizes. The Coleman company also manufactures a LB variety of lightweight, soft-sided coolers that serve similar functions.
Coolers generally carry, for example, three categories of contents: food, beverages, and coolants. In a cooler, some foods, such as sandwiches, may be need to be stored in, for example, plastic bags or containers. Other foods, such as fruits and vegetables, may not need to be contained, but may be placed directly in the cooler. Beverages almost categorically require storage in some sort of container within a cooler, unless the cooler itself (e.g., a thermos) is to be used as the beverage container. The coolant may need to be contained, as in thermal gel packs, for example, or it may not, as in ice. Variations of these three categories may exist, such as when a food or beverage is frozen and acts as a coolant to surrounding contents as it thaws.
While one purpose of storing food and beverages in a cooler is to keep them cool, another equally important and related purpose is to preserve the food and beverages during their storage. In an effort to preserve a cooler""s contents, it is generally preferable that the contents leave the cooler in almost as good a condition as that in which they were when they entered the cooler. A lack of sufficient and consistent cooling, excessive movement, excessive pressure and excessive moisture are, for example, four conditions that may damage the contents of a cooler, possibly making the contents completely undesirable. In this context, pressure refers to the force of one cooler item, such as a bottle, against another, such as a sandwich.
It would therefore be desirable to have a cooler assembly that improves the management of the cooler""s contents by managing the cooling, movement, pressure and/or moisture within the cooler. The contents of a cooler may sustain less degradation during storage in the cooler if the cooler assembly incorporates improved content management. Insofar the content of a cooler generally includes, for example, food, beverages, and coolants, a desirable cooler assembly would store the food, beverages, and coolants in a manner that would improve cooling, reduce movement, relieve pressure and/or isolate moisture within the cooler.
The invention of the present application relates more specifically to the isolation moisture within the cooler. Ice id is a common source of such moisture in that coolers frequently contain ice as a coolant. As the ice absorbs the heat within the cooler, the temperature of the interior of the cooler drops, but the ice melts, turning to water. Ice is commonly sold in large, non-watertight bags for purposes such as packing a cooler. It is common to pack a cooler with the ice either freely surrounding the food or remaining in the bag resting in the cooler. In either of these instances, the melting ice causes a pool of water to form in the bottom of the cooler.
If not sealed in watertight containers, food near the bottom may become soft and water-soaked as the pool of water forms around the food. Although no longer cold enough to remain ice, the water remains cold and continues to chill the inside of the cooler. While many coolers have resealable valves at the bottom to drain liquid from the cooler, drainage of water from melted ice may reduce the cooling effect attainable from a bag of ice. Therefore, it could be advantageous to retain the cold water if the food were not sitting in the water.
It would be desirable that a cooler have the ability to accommodate food packed with ice, freely dispersed or in a bag, for example, and nonetheless separate the food from the pool of water that forms in the bottom of the cooler as the ice melts. It would be desirable that a cooler further have the ability to accommodate the pool of water formed after an entire bag of ice has melted while keeping the food separate from the pool of water. Such coolers would help maintain the quality of food during conveyance to outdoor events such as beach outings, barbecues, picnics and football games, and at the same time increase the potential cooling effect of a bag of ice.
The present invention relates to portable, insulated, carrying devices useful for storing, conveying and serving food and beverages, specifically to a cooler assembly for the management of a cooler""s contents, and more specifically to a support tray for the isolation of liquid on a floor inside a cooler. A support tray according to the present invention may include a top surface, an underside, and a side perimeter. The support tray may be made of a rigid plastic construction, suitable for cleaning in a dishwasher.
The top surface may be substantially planar and have a plurality of perforations leading to the underside. The underside may include a support grate. The support grate may include a plurality of interconnected support beams and support walls. The plurality of interconnected support beams and support walls may circumnavigate the perforations. The side perimeter may include an upper rim and a lower rim for additional support. The side perimeter also may be contoured to provide for handles.
The support tray may be designed to facilitate upright storage of beverage containers. Another embodiment of the present invention may provide at least one beverage container in holder that stores a beverage container in an upright position. The base of the beverage container may rest in the cold water for improved thermal conduction during storage in the beverage container holder. A beverage container holder cap may be secured to the top surface around the beverage container holder when the beverage container holder is not in use. Likewise, a beverage container holder may store a beverage container in a lateral position.